Women’s WorkText by Kenton
KilgoreThanks to Patrick
Eibel for note-taking during the game and post-game analysis

Ultra-Good-Guy Yann Folange was in
my neck of the woods recently for the Baltimore Grand Tournament. Yann
has created many way-cool armies over the years, including a Star-Wars
Space Marine army, an undead Tzeentch force, and a Blood
Angels-successor detachment with lots of Dreadnoughts. His latest
effort is an Banshee-heavy strikeforce. Yann and I have known each other
for years but up ‘til now, never had the chance to play. We got together
a week after the GT to finally move some figures and roll some dice.

Yann used his Banshee army in the
GT and brought a scaled-down version to our game:

Jain Zar

Five squads of 10 Banshees
each (each squad led by an Exarch w/ Executioner)

Two Vypers w/ scatter
lasers

Two Wraithlords
w/ bright lances

One Wraithlord
w/ starcannon

I had played Marines the
week before at Conflict, so I thought I’d bring my Dark
Eldar, which I hadn’t used since Fall From
Grace V. Ordinarily, I play my Dark Eldar up-close-and-in-your-face,
but doing so against Banshees seemed to be an invitation to a swift ass-whooping.
No thank ye. Instead, I configured my Death Twinkies into a “Shoot/Counterattack”
force that would try to whittle down the Banshees with fire and crush any
that made it into hand-to-hand combat. I brought:

Vulnayvya’s
agile mind raced faster than her hard, bare feet as she hurried through
the dark, rough-hewn tunnels that formed the lair of the Ozone Scorpions.
The messenger had given no reason as to why Archon Syryx Lynatharr wanted
Vulnayvya, considered the least of the Kabal’s Haemonculi, nor why she
should come alone—unless…. She shuddered, then reminded herself that
it was an honor to serve the Archon and provide whatever pleasures he might
demand.

No guards barred the
way into the cave that was Lynatharr’s throne room. A lantern, burning
oil processed from human lipids, revealed a lithe figure lounging on the
Archon’s granite chair. At the sight of her, Vulnayvya lowered her eyes,
shamed by Dr’zzlah’s ebon beauty.

“Good evening, dear,”
the Dracon said. “You were expecting my father, of course. That is what
I wanted the messenger to believe. None must know of our meeting. Please,
sit.”

Vulnayvya, her mouth
sewed shut years ago by her own hand, said nothing, but seated herself,
cross-legged, on the cold stone floor.

“You and I,” Dr’zzllah
said, “are the two most powerful women within this Kabal. Yes, YOU are
powerful,” she asserted, seeing the surprise in Vulnayvya’s eyes. “For
too long, you have served under Dr. Fybze,
doing his busywork while he plots against Jheste—and my father.” She laughed
at Vulnayvya’s shock. “Oh, yes, I know all about his little schemes. He
is not as clever or as careful as he thinks he is, and someday soon, when
it suits me, his clandestine work will be aptly rewarded. I am thinking
that he will be invited to a dinner with Master Wormwood’s Warp Beasts—where,
of course, his flesh shall be the main course.

“However, there is
no reason why your considerable talents should be wasted. Have you ever
seen this?” the Dracon asked, showing her a small, grinning figurine carved
from a pulsing blue gem.

Vulnayvya shook her
head.

“My father recently
found this beneath the city of Tharalon.
Obtaining this single item was the sole, albeit covert, reason for our
Kabal returning to Veda. If my father knew that either of us had ever set
eyes on it, he would kill us both. This object has great power, but it
is only one of a set.”

Dr’zzllah tossed the
figure in the air and caught it. “The Fighting Tigers have recently begun
exploring a world they call Ghaatii—we
called it Shar-Akummn before the Fall. They’ve found a number of interesting
trinkets. Some of our Warriors, loyal to me, have followed the Tigers there
and scouted around. What do you suppose we've spotted there, Vulnayvya?”

The Haemonculus pointed
to the figurine.

“That’s right:
more of these. I want them, Vulnayvya. If I swear to you that you will
be safe when Fybze's treachery is exposed, will you get these for me?”

The Haemonculus nodded.

“I was hoping you’d
say that. I have a detachment of Warriors who will obey your commands as
if I spoke them myself. Go to Shar-Akummn and gather up as many of these
figurines as you can. But be careful: the Tigers’ activities have drawn
the attention of our cousins: Biel-Tan, this time, instead of Ulthwe. They
have tried to stop the Tigers from plundering the planet, and they will
try to stop you, too.”

Turn 1The Dark Kin had arrayed themselves
into a fearsome wall of Warriors and Raider craft, but Jain Zar pointed
and the Banshees began the attack, sprinting forward, zigging and zagging,
flitting from one patch of cover to the next. The supporting Vypers did
the same, slithering from behind hills and ruins, presenting their foes
with no shots. Only the Wraithlords strode boldly forward, taking up good
firing positions. One of them unleashed its starcannon on a Raider, destroying
it as it turned to face the Eldar.

Above: Yann
and his Banshee-heavy army deploy against a wall of Dark Eldar

A great hiss rose from the Dark Eldar
line, but they held. Their Taloses and transport craft glided forward,
the former hoping to close with the oncoming Banshees, the latter positioning
themselves to fire. Two disintegrators from the Raiders lashed out at the
Banshees, but the woman warriors were spread out: one fell from one squad,
one from another.

Vulnayvya sensed that the battle
was not going to go well….

Above: As
the Banshees advance, the Raiders and Taloses rise to meet them...

Turn 2The Eldar continued their advance,
the Banshees and Vypers again taking maximum advantage of cover. One Vyper
unleashed its scatter laser on a Raider, shaking its crew. The Wraithlords
opened fire on the Raiders as well, stunning the crew of two and
blowing the dark lance off another. The Raiders and Taloses surged forward
as well, the gunners of the disintegrators switching to sustained mode
but still managing to kill but one Banshee. The Taloses, looking like huge
metal scorpions, focused on the closest enemy unit, a squad of Banshees
whose members wore blue plumes on their helmets. Wildfire from the Taloses’
stings killed five of them, but still the swordswomen pressed on.

Turn 3Vulnayvya’s mouth—sewed shut long
ago by her own taloned hand—smiled. Though they had, to this point, avoided
serious injury, the Banshees would soon be in firing range of the Warriors
and in assault range of the Taloses. Slaughter would ensue. Captives—particularly
choice ones, at that—would be taken. And then there were the wraithstones
to be had….Vulnayvya was not the fiendish genius that Dr. Jheste, her mentor’s
rival was, but she had several ideas about what twisted entertainments
could be had with a wraithstone or two.

But instead of continuing to race
forwards, the Banshees slowed their pace and began firing their shuriken
pistols—at the Raiders confronting them. Ridiculous, and yet…a group of
green-plumed Banshees disabled the disintegrator of one craft, Banshees
with purple plumes immobilized a second, and a gray-plumed squad shot down
a third. One of the Wraithlords immobilized another Raider and stunned
its crew, but Vulnayvya scarcely noticed: she was transfixed by the sight
of Jain Zar hurling her Silent Death across the field, killing three Warriors
before the weapon returned to her hand.

This can’t be, the Haemonculus
thought. Her faith in her army was restored when the Banshees that had
lost five of their number to Talos fire charged a Talos and were rewarded
by two more members perishing to the mechanical beast’s pincers. The green-plumed
Banshees charged the Raider they had shot at, but their blades were of
no use against the craft’s armor, and their Exarch found no vulnerability
with her Executioner.

Above: The
Raiders start dropping like the flimsy kites they are...

The Raiders that were still mobile
buzzed about, their pilots confused and angered at the losses their squadron
had suffered. One fired its horrorfex at the green-plumed Banshees, who
were closest to the Dark Eldar lines. Horrific hallucinations pinned them
to the spot, and a nearby clump of Warriors moved up and opened up on them,
killing six Banshees. Another Raider found a bead on a Vyper and its dark
lance stunned the crew. Two Taloses fired at a squad of yellow-plumed Banshees,
killing four. Both beasts were out of assault range, but the Talos already
in combat killed the last of the blue-plumed Banshees, but not before suffering
two grievous hurts.*

*Editor’s note:
During the game, we erroneously assumed that Banshees (Str 3) could harm
Taloses (T 7) with a roll of 6 “to wound.” The mistake wasn’t discovered
until well after the game.

Turn 4As the Banshees continued forward,
the Eldar trained their guns on the remaining Raiders. The gray-plumed
Banshee squad shot down another Raider, a Vyper downed a second, and a
Wraithlord destroyed a third. The bright lance of another Wraithlord scored
a wound against a Talos, but the last Wraithlord missed the Talos it was
aiming for.

In hand-to-hand fighting, the squad
of yellow-plumed Banshees charged a Talos and lost three of their members.
Jain Zar and her Banshees attacked another Talos and the Phoenix Lord made
swift work of the metal monster, carving it into scrap.

With most of their transports out
of action, the Dark Eldar relied on their Warriors. One squad finished
off the green-plumed Banshees while three Warrior squads and the Wyches
moved up and combined their fire at close range to wipe out the purple-plumed
Banshees. Jain Zar fell to a storm of splinter rifle fire: her armor crumpled
and fell empty to the ground as her indomitable spirit left her.

Vulnayvya smiled—surely with the
end of the Phoenix Lord, victory was at hand? Perhaps not, as the yellow-plumed
Banshees managed to bring down the Talos they had been fighting and swept
closer to the Dark Eldar lines.

Turn 5The Banshees pressed on as their
support units laid down more fire. The Wraithlord that had missed the Talos
before struck home this time, wounding it. Another Wraithlord stunned the
crew of a Raider. The Wraithlord with the starcannon and both Vypers combined
fire on the nearest squad of Warriors, killing five of them. Having already
last three members to Jain Zar’s Silent Death, the two survivors fell back
and took no more part in the battle.

The gray-plumed Banshees crashed
into the Dark Eldar line, killing six Warriors. The yellow-plumed Banshees
attacked the last Talos and all of them fell to the monster’s claws. Wordlessly,
Vulnayvya signaled for the right side of her line to move towards a figurine,
located atop a hill. The others she ordered to repel the gray-plumed Banshees.

The Wyches and the last Talos slammed
into the gray-plumed Banshees, killing four of them. The Banshees slew
two more of the Warriors they had attacked and then attempted to fall back.
The Wyches caught them in their nets and stabbed them to death where they
fell.

Above: The
Banshee assault shatters against the Dark Eldar line

Turn 6A Vyper, hovering over a figurine,
destroyed the last Raider. One Wraithlord, ensconced by a figurine, fired,
destroying the Raider whose crew it had stunned previously. Another, also
standing over a figurine, killed a Warrior with its starcannon. The third
Wraithlord strode calmly forward, intent on taking another figurine.

The Dark Eldar, led by Vulnayvya,
got there first. Vulnayvya’s stinger shot went wide and the rest of their
fire was ineffective. Further down the line, a Warrior squad destroyed
a Vyper, but it was not the one with the figurine. The battle ended with
the Eldar holding three of the ancient objects and the Dark Eldar holding
two.

Post-Game Analysis
by Patrick EibelIf
you were to ask me what makes a perfect game of 40K, I would have to say
it would involve two fully-painted armies, played by two friendly and knowledgeable
opponents, on a board with interesting scenery, and the game is close throughout.

This game was just about perfect.

Both armies looked fantastic. Yann
had painted up his Eldar for the Grand Tournament, and the rank upon rank
of Banshees in bone armor really was striking. To differentiate Banshee
squads from one another, Yann had painted each squad’s hair plumes a different
color. This made it easy during the battle to identify who was doing what
(yellow plumes Fleet of Foot, purple plumes assault the Talos, etc.)
Kenton’s purple, silver, and blue color scheme for the Ozone Scorpions
made a nice visual contrast and clearly pointed out who were the “bad guys.”

The entire spirit of the game was
of good fellowship and fun. While Kenton and Yann certainly wanted to win
the game and were talking smack to each other, the atmosphere never became
contentious or tense. The game was played at Dream Wizards in Rockville,
Maryland, and there were plenty of other games going on at the same time
(we will not discuss the kid at the next table who asked rules questions
every five minutes). Both armies attracted onlookers from around the store,
and several people remarked how nice it was to see two well-painted armies
squaring off. The scenery for the table was typical gaming store hills
and ruins, but there was plenty available.

At first, it looked like the game
was going to be an easy win for Kenton, as he was playing mostly shooty
and poor Yann’s Banshees had to slog over a lot of terrain. Once the Banshees
neared assault range, it became clear the game would be closer than anticipated.
In my book, the play of the game was the destruction of two Raiders by
glancing hits from Banshee pistol fire. In close games, it is frequently
the long shots (or in this case the short shots) that can make the difference.

In all, the game was thoroughly enjoyable
to be a part of (I compiled the notes), and I look forward to the next
time Yann can make his way down to the area so I can get in a game with
him. It’s battles like this one that remind me why, as I stumble into middle
age, I am still playing with toy soldiers.